If you want to know the Bible’s position on work, all you have to do is to open the very first page. But what does the Bible tell us about work that will help us have a greater appreciation for the labor we do?

I It tells us that work is a _______ thing – work belongs to the very n__________ and c______________ of God.A. The most basic definition of work is to __________ something, and the first verse of the Bible says that God ___________, he brought into existence, this world.B. When we see ______ God created, we see how much our work is ________ his work.C. Every good and honest job today finds its b__________ in the work of God.

II This text tells us that God wants us to _______ him in doing work.A. B_________ sin invaded human life, God gave Adam and Eve work to do.B. Work wasn’t the result of sin; work was God’s p__________ plan for the human race.C. Some have the idea that heaven will be the kind of paradise where no one works, but a paradise without work w_______ n_____ be paradise.D. Since work belongs to the nature and character of God, and since hell is devoid of God’s character, then hell must be a place ___________ work.

III This text tells us that God does not take work to an u______ e_______.A. God worked six days and then he rested, and that is the p________ that we are to follow.B. We must balance work and _________; we must balance work and ________; we must balance work and ___________.

IV This text tells us that work can bring us the a___________ of God (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31).

“The Truth about the Truth that Sets us Free” (Conclusion) John 8:30-36

John 8:32 has been used by all sorts of people to promote all sorts of ideas. But a biblical text cannot mean whatever we want it to mean. What is the truth about the truth that sets us free?

I First, the truth that sets us free isn’t only for the believer. In fact, it’s actually directed at the non-believer (8:30).II Second, there is a truth that can set us free (8:31a).III Third, to be set free by the truth, we must use our head (8:32).IV Fourth, the truth is a person (8:31-32).

V Fifth, being set free by the truth can be ______________ to people (8:33).

A. When Jesus says he has a truth that can set them free, they get offended, for _____ reasons:

1. First, it offends their __________ pride.

2. Second, it offends their ____________ pride.

B. They were offended by something Jesus said and so they refused to __________ in him.

VI Sixth, the freedom which the truth brings is freedom from the _________ of ______ (8:34).

A. In verse 34, for the twelfth time in John, Jesus begins a statement with “________, ________.”

B. The truth Jesus is stressing is that ____ makes us ________.

C. Sin is not simply an ______, sin is a ________.

D. Sin is a power which stirs up the desire to find pleasure ___________ God.

VII Seventh, the only truth-teacher who can set us free is the ______ (8:35-36)A. In the ancient world families consisted of two kinds of people: _______ and __________, with all the rights of family members, and _________, who had no permanent place in the family.

B. It was a tradition in Roman households in biblical times for the _______-______ son, when he became a man, to release all the slaves he had grown up with.

VIII Jesus is the one who gives us freedom, but there is something we need to _________ this freedom.

John 8:32 has been used by all sorts of people to promote all sorts of ideas. But a biblical text cannot mean whatever we want it to mean. What is the truth about the truth that sets us free?

I The truth that sets us free isn’t only for the believer. In fact, it’s actually directed at the non-believer (8:30).II There is a truth that can set us free, but many are skeptical of this (8:31a)III Third, to be set free by the truth, we must use our _________ (8:32).A. Verse 32 does ____ say what we Bible-believing Christians should ___________ it to say.-Over and over the Bibles says we must _________. Yet here Jesus says we must __________.B. One of the greatest issues of the Christian life has always been the relationship between f________ and f___________.The Bible does not take an _____-intellectual approach to the Christian life because it was God who created our ________ as well as our spirit.D. An anti-intellectual approach to the Bible is actually more in keeping with the __________ approach to the Bible.

IV The truth is a __________(8:31-32).A. The truth that sets us free is objective fact, but these facts are not about ________; these facts are about a __________.B. You cannot know the truth without being a disciple of Jesus, and you cannot be a disciple of Jesus without having a p___________ c____________ with him.C. If truth is focused on a __________, then we need that _________ to know the truth.

V We Evangelicals aren’t comfortable talking about ________.-When we act as if faith is all we have, that there is nothing we can know, we drive ___________ __________ out of the church and we face our culture with ________.

John 8:32 has been used by all sorts of people to promote all sorts of ideas. But a biblical text cannot mean whatever we want it to mean. What then is this text actually saying?

I This text is one of the best k_______ and most q_________ in the Bible.

II What is the truth about the truth that sets us free? The truth that sets us free isn’t only for the ___________. In fact, it’s actually directed at the ____-___________.A. The one who is not yet in the Kingdom of God has a more __________ need for the truth that sets us free than the believer.B. Who is Jesus __________ to in this text?1. It seems as if Jesus is addressing these words to b__________, but there is good reason to ___________ that.a. First, that expression, “many put their faith in him,” is not as _______________ as it sounds.b. Second, Jesus just said that people cannot truly believe in him until he is c____________.c. Third, these people chose to believe b_________ they heard all they needed to hear.2. Those who most need to hear what Jesus says about truth are people who do ____ ______ know Jesus.

III There _____ a truth that can set us free but that is a very d__________ statement in our world today.A. There are some who say there is ___ _______ ________ as truth.B. There are some who believe truth exists, but only certain _______ of truth can be known. C. Jesus said there is truth and it is found in ______ ____________, but for this truth to change us we must ______ to itD. To live in his truth means two things:1. We must get it into our _______ through _________.2. We must ______ what it says.

Just as there is a mountain range which divides the American continent, so there is a divide in the spiritual world which stands between those who belong to the Kingdom of Light and those who belong to the kingdom of darkness. This divide is Jesus. What puts people on the wrong side of the Jesus divide?

I. S_______ p_______ puts people on the wrong side of the Jesus divide.A. The Pharisees cannot hear what Jesus says about their sins, because for them sin was not a ________.B. We all believe we are way above average. Psychologists call this the state of i____________ s_____________.

II. Allegiance to the ________ puts people on the wrong side of the Jesus divide (8:23).A. Jesus says two things in vs 23 about these people: First, there is a s_________ divide between them.B. Second, Jesus says there is a k_________ divide between them.1. In John the “world” is defined as the system of life and thought which __________ God.2. The world is not only a thought system which is opposed to the Kingdom of God, but the world does all it can to ______ people _____ of the Kingdom of God.

III. _________ puts people on the wrong side of the Jesus divide.A. When Jesus says we must believe, what exactly must we believe?1. We must believe that Jesus is ______.2. We must believe that God is _______.3. We must believe that Jesus was _________.4. We must believe that it was Jesus’ death on the ______ that saved us from our sin.B. There is ______ to know about Jesus, but if we do not believe these _____ things we will find ourselves on the wrong side of the Jesus divide.

IV. W_________ i___________ puts people on the wrong side of the Jesus divide (8:25-27).

Thus far in our study of confrontation in John 8 we have seen five principles which can guide us when we need to confront someone. Today we look at the last two principles.

I The first principle is this: Confrontation should only take place when there is a real reason for it (8:13).II The second principle: Confrontation must overcome ignorance (8:14).III The third principle: Confrontation must make the truth known w/o condemnation (8:15).IV The fourth principle: Confrontation must never exclude God or God’s Word (8:16).V The fifth principle: Confrontation, if at all possible, should not be done alone (8:17-18).

VI The sixth principle: Confrontation should be _______ focused on the _______ issue (8:19).

In our return to the Gospel of John we have been asking the question, “Who is Jesus?” John 8:12 says he is the light of the world. Today we see that Jesus is one who is not afraid to confront. In our text we find seven principles that can guide us when we need to confront:

I Confrontation should only take place when there is a real reason for it.II Confrontation must overcome ignoranceIII Confrontation must make the truth known without condemnation.

IV Confrontation must never exclude ______ or _______ ________ (8:16).A. Sometimes we get upset about things that are only matters of ____________, but we still try to confront.1. When we try to make a matter of personal taste a __________ issue, we get into __________.When we act like a biblical issue is ______ a matter of personal taste, we get into _______ trouble.B. We have a problem today because there are _____ supposed authorities which have taken the authority that belongs to ______.1. First, there is __________ authority.2. Second, there is ____________ authority.

V Confrontation, if at all possible, should not be done ________ (8:17-18). A. Jesus says, “In fact, I am not alone. There are ______ who support my statement that I am the light of the world.”1. One is _____.2. The other witness is the ________ who _____ me.B. A Qal Wahomer argument is an argument from the ________ to the __________.C. Why should we not confront alone?1. First, it is better for the one who is _______ confronted.2. Second, it is better for the one who __________.

In our return to the Gospel of John we have been asking the question, “Who is Jesus?” John 8:12 says he is the light of the world. Today we see that Jesus is one who is not afraid to confront. In our text we find seven principles that can guide us when we need to confront:

I The first principle is this: Confrontation should only take place when there is a real reason for it.

II The second principle: Confrontation must overcome ______________.A. Jesus says, “Even if you ignore all my witnesses you should believe me because of where I am ______ and where I am ________.1. Where is he from? He is from _____.2. Where is he going? He is going to _______.The Pharisees should have recognized where Jesus was from and where he was going, but they didn’t, because they chose to be ____________.C. People who need to be confronted are people who have been deceived, either by __________ or by the _________ around them. D. Ignorance makes confrontation necessary, but we must ________ the ignorant.

III The third principle: Confrontation must make the truth known without ______________.A. Jesus could judge perfectly, and that is what makes the following statement so ___________ - He says, “I pass judgment on ____ _____.”B. Only when he _______ from the Father, and the Father _________ his judgment, only then does Jesus judge.C. We humans can’t listen to people who condemn us – Our emotional s_______- p____________ instinct won’t let us.

IV One of the most common ways we condemn people today is by using __________. -This is how condemnation works: We condemn people in our ________, then we ____________ them by giving them a label, and then we feel free to ______ them.

In our return to the Gospel of John we have been asking the question, “Who is Jesus?” Last Sunday we saw that he is the light of the world. Today we see that Jesus is one who is not afraid to confront. In our text we find seven principles that can guide us when we need to confront:

I The first principle is this: Confrontation should only take place when there is a r________ r__________ for it.A. Some believe they have been given the ministry of a____________.B. Confrontation is a legitimate tool to rescue people from self-deception, but confrontation must not be entered into q_______ly or l________ly.

II What made this confrontation necessary?A. The Pharisees denied the _________ of what Jesus had just said.1. They did not deny what he said on the basis of the _________.2. They denied what he said on the basis of an obscure _________ principle.B. The Pharisees were not only using an obscure legal principle to discredit Jesus, but they m_____________ it.C. The Pharisees were not only accusing Jesus of lying about himself, they were also trying to _________ _____. D. Jesus had already d_______ with their objection and had answered it c__________.1. Beginning with John 5:32, Jesus lists five witnesses who can give evidence that he speaks the truth: John the Baptist, _____ the _______, the work that Jesus is doing, _______, and the ___________. 2. The fact that the Pharisees bring up this issue of witnesses after Jesus had already dealt with it shows that the Pharisees were not only blind, they were ___________ blind.